Children of Helios
by Twitch Hopeless-Savage
Summary: Draco Malfoy didn't know he was a firestarter until he saved Hermione when she is attacked. Now they are both at Helios Academy. Draco as a student, Hermione as a patient. Amidst political espionage and war can they find love? DMHG
1. Chapter One

The Children of Helios –

A/n: Forgive in advance the lack of Draco in this chapter. He will be more prominent soon... I promise...

Chapter One:

Rufus Scrimgeour meandered down the dimly lit hallway, the little candlelight available casting a malicious shadow on the wall beside him. A stout wizard in bright red robes followed behind him, looking extremely flustered.

"I assure you that we will get them back, sir. I already have a team tracking them as we speak."

The Minister of Magic stopped in front of a window facing a large white room. His eyes widened in awe, as a scarred hand shot out to support himself against the glass. "She's beautiful, absolutely stunning," he gasped.

The wizard stood at the Minister's side, grinning. "She's one of the few that isn't fighting us every step of the way. Don't worry about anything though; they will all come around in the end. Once they realise it is for a good cause."

"When you catch the three who escaped, I want them all put in separate cells, no meals for a day and they shall be stripped of all privileges." Scrimgeour looked at the man beside him severely, taking a sip of water from his travelling flask. "And if any of them escape again, I will personally replace you as head of this facility. They are too important to this war."

His attention averted back to the window, fire glistening in his eyes. A tear rolled down his cheek, which he quickly wiped away on the sleeve of his austere black robes. "Is that understood, Ravden?"

"Yes, Minister."

"Grand. Now I have to be off. I will be checking in on the status of the escapees tomorrow. You have till then to get them back."

"But, sir..." Only he never got to say his but; one heart-stopping glare from Scrimgeour was enough to shut Ravden up completely. He simply nodded his head acknowledging the Minister's wishes and walked away down the hall, leaving Rufus alone in front of the window.

"Once you lot are trained, there will be no stopping us. Victory will be ours," he said in a self-congratulating voice, as the girl behind the window reduced a large wardrobe to ashes in a minute flat. The flames receded back into her hands as she turned to look him in the eyes, smiling sweetly.

The Minister jumped back in fright. He could see her, but she wasn't supposed to be able to see him. Still watching him, she walked over to a metal desk and poured herself a glass of water. Standing before him her eyes began to glow red, as the water in the glass started to boil, steam fogging up the window.

Rufus hobbled closer; all he could see now was the blurry shape of the girl. As he watched, she began to write something in the steam; he could catch glimpses of her infuriating smile through the letters. When she stopped, the Minister stepped back and almost stumbled on the back of his robes.

"Long live Voldemort," read her message, clear as crystal.

Rufus stood there in shock for several minutes, as the steamed window began to clear, words dissipating. The girl stood still as stone, an aura of fire encompassing her body, eyes drilling into the Minister's mind. He felt the whisper of a hand caressing his cheek, soft breath on his neck.

"Death Eater…" muttered a small voice in his ear. Rufus looked up at the window. The girl winked at him and extinguished herself, disappearing into the now dark room.

"Ravden!" Scrimgeour shouted, pulling his eyes away from the block of darkness before him. "I want to see her."

Looking back, he saw two fiery orbs watching him closely from the black.

&

Mace slipped the stolen loaf of bread into his coat and made off down the street, hoping he hadn't been seen by anybody. The streets of London were darkened, which suited Mace just fine. He avoided the pools of lamplight and stayed in alleys or side streets.

As he slithered through the chain link fence of an abandoned warehouse he saw, out of the corner of his eye, several shadows creeping towards him. They held lit wands in their hands and he could make out the Department of Mysteries insignia on their black robes.

His eyes glowed fiery red with anger but he suppressed the burning sensation inside his chest. Mace had to warn Theresa. He dashed across the unkempt grounds toward the building, the sounds of pounding feet ringing in his ears.

"Theresa!" he shouted, slamming a metal door shut behind him. "They've found us!"

A pale feminine face looked down from a balcony overlooking the deserted production floor covered in old machinery that had ceased to work years ago. Her eyes burned red and sparks began to spit from her fingertips.

"There's too many of them to fight off! We have to run!" Mace called, dashing up the rattling staircase. Behind him there was a small explosion and the door slammed onto the wall opposite.

About a dozen men and women streamed into the room, wands at ready. They made to follow him up the stairs but a fireball blasted past his head and slammed into the chest of a burly man. Screaming, he flew back, taking the rest of them with him. They all desperately shot streams of water on his burning robes.

Theresa stood waiting at the head of the stairs, smoke rising from her reddened palms. "Smart move," he hissed. "Now they'll have an excuse to shoot stunners at us." A bolt of red light sped past his shoulder and shot into the far wall, dissipating on target.

"You can be a chicken and leave. I'm going to stay here and fight. I'll teach them for chasing us everywhere we go." Another fireball began to form in Theresa's hand. Giggling, she blew it off her hand and it sped down the stairs, slamming into a woman.

Another fireball followed that, disappearing into a pile of old crates. They caught fire instantly and smoke began to fill the room, creating cover for the two teenagers. The only problem was that now they couldn't tell where they were either.

"We don't want to hurt you. We want to help you," a man called through the smoke. The sound of crackling wood filled the background.

"Sure!" Theresa screamed, a whip of fire growing in her hand. "Why don't you say that to Spark? Oh wait, you can't. She's dead thanks to you."

The whip bit the air, slicing through the top of the stairs. The metal melted and the stairs fell away from the landing. Strangled cries filled the warehouse. "Now we can get out of here," Theresa said, changing the whip into a fireball. She carelessly threw it over her shoulder, down into the smoky mess below. There was a small explosion, giving birth to more flames and smoke.

Mace smashed a window and climbed onto the roof of a shed next to it. He held out his hand to Theresa, but she didn't take it. Panic gripped him; the Ministry officials wouldn't be held up for that long.

"Theresa!" Mace yelled, sticking his head back in. She was in a small room, grabbing her knapsack. "Hurry up!"

As Theresa was making a quick dash for Mace's outstretched hand a loud pop filled the upstairs. Before the pair could react one of the officials slammed a set of handcuffs on Theresa, disabling her powers. They were gone with a loud pop, a carefully aimed fireball gliding right through the spot they had been moments before.

Cursing angrily, Mace pulled his hand back outside and jumped into the long grass below. He would be more help to Theresa if he evaded capture.

"Search the back!" someone shouted as Mace climbed over a fence. He took one last look at the warehouse he had called home for the last few days. Flames were licking the roof and he could hear sirens approaching.

Sparks spitting from his mouth, Mace disappeared into a dark alley.

&

"Father is certain that the huge factory fire in London is a direct result of an escaped heliopath. Muggle witnesses say they saw several figures leaving the premises right after the fire started. According to them the people were wearing black bathrobes," Luna Lovegood reported, stirring her butterbeer milkshake.

She was sitting outside Phillipa Walsh's Soda Fountain with Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Neville. In the background, a large fountain shot grape soda into the air. It landed with a crisp tinkle in a basin full of purple, glowing fish.

All present just politely looked down into their milkshakes as Luna skimmed through _The Quibbler; _they had learned to take what she said at face value and pay it little credence. Hermione had to suppress herself from correcting the Ravenclaw and probably would have if it weren't for Ron having his wand poised at the ready, the words to the silencing charm teetering on the tip of his tongue.

The previous week Luna and Hermione had spent the entirety of a meal arguing about the existence of the Fiskus Web-Slinger, a creature similar in shape to that of an ape with spider like qualities. It had only been when Ron kissed Hermione firmly on the lips that the fight fell apart.

Now Ron sat there watching the annoyance on Hermione's face, her lips pouting deliciously as she tried not to look at Luna. It was hard for him to comprehend why he hadn't kissed her sooner; the last week had been absolute bliss. Hermione's soft hands caressing his neck, the tang of her of salty skin permeating his mouth. Even now, with his mouth full of pumpkin milkshake, Ron could taste her.

Luna ceased her pointless chatter, unaware that no one had paid any attention to her, and strongly sipped at her thick shake, slurping loudly. Neville smiled at her bemusedly, taking her free hand in his.

Ron grinned and did the same to Hermione, winking devilishly. The corners of her mouth twisted up in a smile and their lips met feverishly, drawing passion from each other like poison from a wound. It was intoxicating, thick curls twisting around his fingers, a slippery tongue prying his swollen lips apart.

There was a sudden rush of cold and Ron felt something wet rolling down his face, sending shivers down his spine. Tearing himself away Hermione, searching hands discovered a gob of milkshake planted firmly on his cheek, dripping into his robes and mouth. Everyone at the table was cracking up, giving Ginny big thumbs up.

"What?" she cooed innocently, taking a drink of her milkshake. "Just putting out the fire before it burned everyone. There are just a few things that I don't want to see you doing Ron, being my brother and all."

Ron looked around at everyone indignantly, attempting to wipe the mess from his face. "Like I want to see you snogging Harry all the time."

Everyone continued to snigger; even Hermione had started, rubbing his back lovingly. "Don't take offence, honey. It was just a joke."

"Them I'm sure she won't mind this." With that he lobbed a spoonful of ice cream across the table, hitting his sister squarely on the nose.

"You can't do that to my girlfriend, mate. Even if she is your sister," Harry laughed, loading his spoon with some shake and taking aim at Ron. Hermione quickly followed suit, her sights on Ginny.

"If you hit Ron I will hit Ginny."

Both Harry and Hermione constricted their faces into the most serious look possible while on the brink of busting out laughing; eyebrows raised, stares drilling dangerously into each other. They weren't even aware of the dairy missiles rushing towards them until they were both blinded, yelling out in surprise. Neville and Luna gave each other a high-five.

Hermione's hand slipped, letting her ice cream loose into the air. It soared over Ginny's head and landed with a soft splat on the face of Professor McGonagall who was on her way to the Three Broomsticks with Flitwick and Sprout in tow.

Everyone at the table fell silent, staring in horror at their teachers. Sprout winked at them, concealing a huge grin. Flitwick tittered cutely, waved his wand and cleaned up the transfiguration teacher's face. Hermione wished he hadn't, because McGonagall's lips were thinner than any of them had ever witnessed. The look in her eyes bore down on each of them in turn, taking in the remnants of milkshakes running down their faces.

"Nicely shot, Hermione," Ron muttered, quickly wiping the mess off his face. "Maybe you should be the one playing Quidditch."

Hermione shot him a withering look comparable to McGonagall's, keenly unaware how absurd she looked with a mask of butterbeer shake hiding her visage. Ron gulped loud enough for everyone to hear, his ears turning an appropriately bright shade of red very similar to that of Harry's face, which was deformed in an effort to not bust up laughing.

"Weasley is right, Miss Granger. Very nicely shot," McGonagall said, her frown breaking into a big smile. "Maybe you would like to replace Miss Weasley on the house team."

"Hey, at least I hit the target I was intending to!" Ginny argued, sticking her tongue out at Hermione.

"Quite right. However, I'm going to have to take some points off from both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw despite all of your excellent aim. No doubt this all started in good spirit, but this is no way to present yourselves to the world."

Everyone moaned loudly, glaring at Ginny, who now was deemed fully responsible for the situation.

"Two points from Ravenclaw and eight from Gryffindor, and if I ever catch you acting so immature in public again it will be more, you can be assured of that. Now please clean go get cleaned up and try and behave for the rest of the afternoon."

"Yes, ma'am," they all intoned together, not quite meeting her eyes.

Professor McGonagall nodded in approval and continued on her way, Flitwick and Sprout chuckling behind her. "To be a kid again…" they heard her say to her colleagues before disappearing inside the Inn.

All six of them looked at each other, their faces breaking into large smiles. Ginny kissed Harry's nose, lovingly licking the chocolate off it. Ron bent in, lightly kissing Hermione, her tantalizing lips tasting of butterbeer. Neville and Luna were perfectly clean and when they kissed only got the natural flavour of each other.

As Ron pulled away from Hermione he caught a glimpse of Draco Malfoy leaning against the side of a store watching the couples intently. When Ron looked over at him Malfoy sneered angrily and disappeared into a back alley.

"What a freak," Ron thought, cuddling Hermione to his side.

"Stupid, happy couples," Draco muttered darkly, peaking around the corner in jealous disgust.

&

_Soon_

Ravden lifted his head, looking away from the prostrate body of Theresa. A young wizard slowly pulled a needle out of her arm, the metal flickering in the light of the glowing orbs hovering beneath the ceiling. Her eyelids fluttered open for a second, burning pupils extinguishing. Then she slipped away, a soft breath escaping from her mouth.

They were putting Theresa in a suspended existence until her wounds were fully healed. During the raid at the warehouse she had sustained numerous life threatening injuries and even with the magic every bit of her body's energy needed to be focused on healing.

"Gitans," Ravden addressed his young assistant, "watch the girl carefully. If you get even the slightest suspicion that she is reacting adversely to the potion give her the antidote. I don't want another slip up; those Unspeakable fools let Mace get away and killed Spark in the process. We have to try and salvage something from this debacle."

_He is coming_

"Yes, I am quite aware. Thank you," the Professor muttered irritably, pushing through the door into the hall.

He followed the sparingly lit corridors to an antechamber ending in large iron doors guarded by two Unspeakables, their faces covered by dark masks. Glittering over Ravden was a glass dome opening onto the heavens. Beneath him a mosaic of Mary stared up into the sky as if searching for something more, her eyes alive in the sunlight.

The sight always took his breath away, no matter how many times he gazed upon it. Centuries before it was the Academy, the building had been a monastery built on the sacred grounds of the pagans. Though he considered both religions archaic Muggle creations, there was no doubting the imagery they conveyed held power.

As he neared the door Ravden breathed in deeply, fortifying his person. Even so there was a pounding in his veins as the blood rushed to his head causing some light-headedness. A few more steps and he became more acclimated to the power pulsing through the stone.

The Pagan Circle, and the preceding Monastery, had been built on an epicentre of power. Most of the muggles who worshipped there felt very little, but the priests, who were usually zealous wizards craving a bit of influence, were well aware of the fountain of magic that flowed in the soil.

This made it a prime choice when the Ministry needed a place for The Oracle.

Both the guards placed a hand on Ravden's shoulders long enough to determine that he was indeed who he appeared to be and then bowed him pass. The door dissipated as the Professor stepped out of the moonlight into the alcove. A small room lay beyond, the Temple of Delphi it was called amongst some members of the Department. It was completely bare save for a naked woman standing in a pool of water that shone with some internal light. Her red hair was cropped close to her skull, revealing a detailed Celtic knot design running from the base of her neck down her back in elaborate curves and curls.

She turned around and watched Ravden with empty sockets, deep crimson lips smiling. The Professor flinched, her disfigurement always made him nervous, that coupled with the fact that she could read every thought in his head at mere whim.

The Oracle had been in Ministry employment for almost seventeen years after she was discovered in a muggle hostel by a travelling witch from the Department of Mysteries. She was an enigma, no matter how much she was studied. They were never sure when the woman was going to do or say anything, she just did.

As Ravden got closer he could see the twinkling orbs that littered the bottom of the pool, the ghosts of visions whispering quietly beneath the water's surface. One of the unexplainable actions that drove her. Every couple of months they were harvested and taken back to London to be analysed.

_See the pattern and know_

Ravden could feel the steely gazes of her Watchers as he stopped at the edge of the pool, his eyes nervously pointed at the surface.

_From the loins of Helios is spawned another son_

A flood of images filled Ravden's head following her resonant voice. He saw a tall, thin teenager with sleek blonde hair sauntering down the streets of a quaint village watching a group of kdis out of the corner of his eye.

Hogsmeade, Ravden could see the outline of Hogwarts castle stretching into the sky.

_Kieran_

Taken off guard he looked up into the face of The Oracle. The scarred mess of her eyes watched him carefully, a silky hand resting softly on a perfectly curved, smooth thigh. She walked on the water's surface towards him, kissing her hand. As she stopped at the edge The Oracle solemnly touched the kiss to his head before turning her back to him and disappearing underwater.

Ravden felt cold all over, confused with the vision that filled his head, obscuring the face of the boy. Two of the Watchers slipped their hands into the crook of his elbows and carried him out of the Temple.

In the antechamber several of his contemporaries were waiting for him, wearing normal robes instead of their usual red.

"Where to, Sir? Has she found another one?"

Ravden stared at them in confusion, still stunned at what she had showed him.

"Sir?"

_Do not dwell. There is nothing you can do_

It felt like there was a huge weight lifted from his shoulders, his mind clearing. "We're off to Hogsmeade, men!"

&

REVIEWS ARE MOST WELCOME!


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two:

The last vestiges of day shimmered down on Draco as he slowly walked towards Hogwarts castle, which pierced the horizon in the distance. Deep in thought, his grey eyes stared at the clouds of dirt that rose every time he took a step, giving his gleaming leather boots a matted look. The day had started promising enough; the sun was shining, perfect weather for visiting the village.

The first shock came when Draco sauntered into the Great Hall for breakfast and was met with Pansy clinging to some seventh year, her tongue permanently inserted down his throat. As he was sitting down next to Blaise she had glared at him angrily, biting her new boything's bottom lip. She was teasing Draco; it had been his favourite activity when they were dating. Pansy had taken the split bad, mostly because by the end she was playing second fiddle to another girl. Another girl that Draco was only pining after, as if Pansy herself was unsatisfactorily. Since then she had tried to make his like a living hell.

Draco turned his back from her and proceeded to butter a piece of toast while Blaise made small talk. Always watching Pansy in the corner of his eye Draco had gotten through half of breakfast and was beginning to feel a little better when her voice violated his ears.

"Oh, Draco! Look who has just walked in!"

The entire Slytherin table turned to watch as Hermione Granger waltzed in, her trademark overstuffed book bag slung over her shoulder. Draco's eyes widened as Granger tucked a tuft of bushy hair behind her ear, smiling playfully at her boyfriend, Ronald Weasley. It always shocked him how gorgeous she was, and how a mudblood could tantalise him this much.

His peers looked over at his blushing face and back over to Hermione taking a seat at the Gryffindor table.

"_Damn that smug bitch,"_ Draco thought, leering at Pansy´s proud face. That little stuck up nose made her look like an ugly dog. It was beyond him why they had ever been together, not even the sex was good.

"Must be getting desperate, Malfoy," Blaise whispered haughtily. "A mudblood?"

Draco kicked a rock across the dirt path. Today just wasn't his day.

Laughter rang in his ears and he quickly turned on the spot coming face to face with Potter and his group of friends coming up fast behind him. All three couples were holding hands, chattering quietly to each other.

What a disgusting sight. Pulling his face into a sneer, Draco addressed them. "That was quite a display back there, Potter. You were all behaving like a bunch of pixies."

Pixies, what the hell? He really needed to get back to the castle and cloister himself in his room. Apparently, they thought it was dumb too; all six of them just brushed past looking at Draco with slight annoyance. In the last year, he had found it so hard to muster up enough animosity to torture people but there was always just enough left for Potty and the Weasel Gang. Now even that seemed to be gone.

"Damn it," he said aloud, balling his fists. None of this would've happened if his father hadn't been captured, if he had just stayed out of the war. All it did was tear things up. At home, Narcissa just fluttered around in a worried state, fussing over Draco at every turn. Growing up Draco had always thought that the Dark Lord was so cool, but that's because he was just a story.

Now Voldemort was here in real life and Draco realised that there wasn't anything to marvel at. His exploits were just cruel, disgusting, and depressing.

Ridiculing Harry Potter was the only fun thing left in the world. He wouldn't let them take that from him.

"Don't walk away from me, Orphan Boy!" Draco yelled, swivelling his head in their direction, determined to rediscover himself amidst the inner turmoil.

"Ignore him, Harry. You too, Ron. He isn't worth it," Hermione said loudly. It was like she had slapped him again while taking his balls in her hand and squeezing tightly. Draco was too stunned to speak, the vein in his forehead throbbing like crazy. No one was supposed to be able to affect him like this. It wasn't fair!

Usually he found her cruelty a huge turn on, but she had never been dismissive of him before. Draco felt like he didn't exist anymore, as if Hermione's words erased him completely from existence.

"Fuck you all!" Their retreating backs continued to grow smaller.

Disheartened, Draco continued his trek back to the castle, travelling as slow as he could so there would be no chance of catching up with _them_.

Too busy wallowing in self-pity Draco almost didn't hear the rustling the bushes up the road from him, just behind Granger and her friends who were laughing so hard that he was sure none of them had heard it. It was possible there really wasn't anything to hear in the first place and Draco's depression was making him see things.

Then a figure crept onto the path and Draco was quite sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. Pulling out his wand, Draco knelt behind some shrubs watching the man very carefully. In a blink of an eye the stranger was silently flying through the air right at the group of kids who continued to chatter unknowingly. Draco was about to shout a warning when Hermione looked back and saw the man just as he descended in their midst, pinning her right arm behind her back. He quickly backed to the side of the road, pulling Hermione's wand out of her pocket and holding it to the small of her back.

"None of you move or I'll kill her," he laughed, sniffing her hair. "It would be a pity too, such a pretty young thing."

Ginny and Harry both had their wands pointed at his face, the only part of him showing. Shaking his head the man pulled a thick mask over his features. It was completely solid, not even the smallest opening for the most well placed spell.

"That's better," he said, his voice unhindered by the mask. "Now, give me all the money you've got on you. And anything else of value."

As quietly as he could Draco ran up the path at the man's side, wand at the ready.

"Expelliarmus," he yelled, aiming at the man's wand hand. Red shot of his wand but the highwayman was quick on the uptake, stepping back a little so the spell slammed into Hermione's side. She shouted in pain and Draco wanted to kill himself.

This would've been the perfect time to use wordless magic.

"Crucio," the man countered, moving Hermione's wand momentarily to send a shot of quick pain through Draco's body. Collapsing on the roadside Draco felt something inside him break when the spell washed over him. His body was quickly heating up, sweat pouring out of him rapidly.

Harry and the rest still stood there quietly, not even sparing him a look. They were watching the robber, waiting for him to slip up just a little. Hermione, however, turned her head a little and looked Draco in the eyes, smiling slightly. "Petrificus Totalus," the highwayman muttered so that Hermione stood perfectly still, her eyes boring into Draco's. "Don't want you to try anything funny either my pet."

"Don't touch her anymore," Draco said darkly, standing up. His body was on fire, every single inch of him was screaming in pain as his skin smouldered. It began to crack open, blood dripping into the dirt. When he opened his mouth again sparks shot into the air, flames licking out of the corners of his lips. "Did you hear me?"

Everyone froze in horror as fire began to emit from his fingertips. The robber pulled Hermione in front of himself, backing away slowly.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Draco yelled, holding out his hands. They ejaculated fireballs the size of quaffles in the man's direction, hitting his mask and shattering it on target. Shards of it planted in his face, taking out one of his eyeballs. Hermione's hair sizzled, the right side of her face scalded red, blisters bubbling on her cheeks.

Draco let loose another volley of fireballs. His hair was completely burned away, skin melting together. Immense amounts of pain overtook him but there was nothing he could do. Burning rage had become his master and there was nothing he could do until it was satisfied.

A rogue fireball caught Hermione's pants on fire as it jettisoned past her, colliding with the robber. He dropped her petrified body on the ground as fire consumed her and took off running down the road. Draco chased after him as Harry, Ginny, and Ron desperately tried to put out Hermione with jets of water from their wands. By now his entire body was completely on fire and still he didn't stop.

The man tripped on a loose rock and crashed into the dirt, screaming in fear.

Without mercy Draco let loose on him a wave of unyielding flames. In front of his eyes the man's skin began to burn away, the muscle beneath searing into a deep brown colour before charring.

Draco screamed in anger in pain as his whole life flashed before his eyes. His father hitting him across the back with his cane. His mother ignoring him. Pansy sneering at him. Everything nasty was coming to a pinnacle and escaping him with the flames.

With every passing second Draco's strength waned until he was completely blind, his knees buckling beneath him. Still the flames came as the tears in his eyes evaporated in puffs of steam.

"Stun him quickly!" someone shouted in the distance. "Before he does more damage to himself!"

A stunner hit him in the back and then there was nothing.

&

Ravden held a hand up to his nose as he staggered over to Draco's prostrate form, steam rising from his rapidly cooling body. This was the worse of his career, usually they just shot out of few flames, caused some minor injuries. Not Draco. He had killed someone and severely injured the girl.

Ravden stared over at what left of the robber. Charred bones lay on the dirt in the faint shape of something human. Bits of burnt flesh hung limply, swaying slowly in the breeze. Everything else was ash.

The urge to puke overtook him and Ravden ran to the side of the road, his stomach ejecting all the food he had consumed that day. Even when it was emptied he continued to dry heave.

Ravden tried to subdue the contractions of his stomach but the smell was overwhelming. It was only when he used the bubble head charm that he was able to take a hold of his senses. Draco had to be taken back to the Academy immediately; there was a chance he wasn't going to survive already. His face was just mash of melted skin. There was no nose, his eyelids were fused shut. Where his lips were was a bloody hole. Ravden couldn't even bring himself to inspect the rest of the poor boy.

Conjuring a stretcher Ravden slowly lifted Draco's body onto it gently, calling for his Grayson to come help him. Hubbard had already left with the girl.

Together they held the stretcher between them and simultaneously disapparated with a loud boom.

&

Ron stood in the middle of the deserted road clutching a sealed envelope in his hands. Pants wet with urine were sticking to his legs. Worry filled every cell in his body. These men had just showed up out of nowhere and whisked Hermione away before he had a chance to see if she was okay.

"What the hell just happened?" Ginny muttered, leaning on Harry weakly. Every single one of them had a stunned looked plastered on their pale faces.

"He's a heliopath," Luna said softly in awe. "I knew they existed."

Up the road the final member of Ravden's team was cleaning up the mess Draco had made of the robber. When he was done he sauntered over to the five teenagers, stricken with grief and fear.

"Remember to take that letter straight to the Headmaster and stay in his office. A Ministry official will be there shortly with news of your friend and as good an explanation as he is permitted to give."

"Why can't you just tell us what happened?" Harry demanded, clutching Ginny tightly. The image of Draco on fire and melting was seared in his mind.

"I am not authorized to do so," the man said. "Just go back to the school and wait. But I'm sure she will be fine."

"Fine, that's just what we'll do." Ron said stubbornly, stiffly walking towards the castle. "Come on guys."

The smell of burnt flesh hung in the air as they ambled towards Hogwarts, the sky behind it on fire as the sun slipped beneath the horizon.


End file.
